As South Africa celebrates the anniversary of the Soweto uprisings, which had its roots in an oppressive education and political system, experts in the field are divided about the quality of learning and teaching 30 years on.

While in 1976 our youth faced Bantu education and prospects of unemployment today, some of these experts say there's not much difference in the quality of education, while others say the achievements since democracy have been astounding.

A critic of the current education system is Paul Colditz, the chairman of the Federation of Associations of Governing Bodies of South African Schools, which claims to have a membership of 1 000 schools.

Colditz says the country has seen progress in terms of access to education and that there are more learners in the system now than during apartheid, but the quality of that education leaves much to be desired.

He believes "a not too well planned" introduction of Outcomes Based Education has seen a drop in the standard and quality of education and points out that at university level there is a 40 percent drop-out rate amongst first year learners who are not adequately prepared for higher education.

Colditz says since democracy the standard of education in "privileged communities" is "worse" while in previously disadvantaged communities "we have not made a substantive difference to the quality of education that those children are receiving".

He attributes the drop in standards at former Model C schools to the "huge migration" to schools in the suburbs mainly from former black schools, to those in traditionally Indian, coloured and white schools.

He says a combination of factors are responsible for the problems in black schools including curriculum changes particularly its implementation, lack of capacity and a lack of discipline.

He says the legal and policy framework was in order, but education was not only the responsibility of government but also the community.

The reasons for the decline in education at Model C schools were class sizes "because of the influx", a higher learner teacher ratio, "the challenges of diversity" in the school. Previously many of them were single medium schools which are now duel or parallel medium with a smaller staff.

The chairwoman of the READ Educational Trust, Cynthia Hugo, has worked with thousands of schools over the past two decades and believes that since the dawn of democracy there has been a dramatic improvement in the quality of education, particularly in "deep rural schools." Hugo who is one of the organisation's founding members, says "people just expect to click their finger and then things will change".

She says in the past 10 years teachers have been desperate to attend courses, the majority of teachers wanted to do their best and it was necessary to take advantage of their willingness to learn.

"I think Education Minister Naledi Pandor is working herself to death and there are lots of fine people in the provinces but more decisions should be made at the district level," said Hugo.

Education analyst and Dean of Education at the University of Pretoria, Jonathan Jansen says the unequal distribution of resources, low staff morale and wastage at all levels in the department were of concern but there were many black schools that had successfully managed to turn around the legacy of the past.

"We cannot use it as an excuse that because of what happened in 1976, the schools have lost their sense of authority and of culture with respect to teaching and learning that is true but it cannot be used in 2006, 30 years later …"

He also believes the standard of education has dropped dramatically.

"It's much easier now for kids to pass matric. Where did you hear that so many kids pass with five or six A's at a time? It's unheard of. It's not because they're getting smarter it's because it's getting easier to pass."

He said anyone who taught at university level would admit that the entry level classes struggled more than ever before and that there was a high failure and drop-out rate.

"The quality of education right now is not much better than what it was in the past. I would be very loathe to say irresponsible things like things are worse now that under apartheid, I don't think that is true. But I do think in terms of the average performance of South Africans we continue to come last on every conceivable level of performance and that means there is something systemically wrong," said Jansen.

He said currently teachers were extremely demoralised because of all the curriculum changes and policy instability, but this he believes was no excuse when the futures of our children were at stake.

Jansen believes the only way forward is through strong leadership in schools, a strong sense of accountability, and a strong sense of professional support for teachers. "We should provide teachers with the basics required to enable a school to perform. That involves teacher training, high quality text books, an adequate work environment.

Once you've done that you need to insist that people achieve those particular goals," said Jansen.

Deputy director-general for further education and training in the Department of Education Penny Vinjevold says the success marker is to look at the number of black pupils who were in high school in 1976 and the number in school today.

She said there were only 10 000 blacks in matric in 1976 across the country and only one college of education which was in Soweto.

She said there had been a dramatic increase in learners since the new dispensation and the goal now was to improve the "uneven" quality of education every year.

This week Vinjevold told the National Assembly's education portfolio committee that the Government's plans to improve the education system included the reintroduction of teacher bursaries for certain subjects and the training of principles because many of them had teaching but not management skills.

She also disputed the Colditz's view that the influx of children from township schools to previously Model C schools had lowered the standard and quality of education.

Vinjevold said there were several examples across the country where these pupils had actually led to improved pass rates at the schools.